In my heart and yours
by Plum'oh
Summary: The story of how the god Ryouta carries out jobs—willingly or dumped on him. Judgemental looks don't bother him anymore, anyway. / Noragami AU.
1. My name is Ryouta

**Rating: ** T

 **Summary:** The story of how the god Ryouta carries out jobs—willingly or dumped on him. Judgemental looks don't bother him anymore, anyway.

 **Disclaimer: ** The characters belong to Tadatoshi Fujimaki.

Hello! So, about this AU. I warn you that this isn't going to be regularly updated, as I wrote it on a whim and I don't know where this is going orz

Pairings aren't totally decided, I guess it will happen through the writing (but I can tell you that romance isn't the main focus anyway).

As for the characters, there will be a bunch of them; but the main ones are Kise, Sakurai, Nijimura, Haizaki, Takao, Miyaji and Momoi. I'll give you the names of the shinki at the end of the chapter! Keep in mind though that my knowledge in Japanese isn't that great so I apologize for the eventual inaccuracy.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 1:** My name is Ryouta

He descends from the sky like a thunderbolt and slashes his enemies, neatly cutting them in two before they disintegrate from both the Far Shore and the Near Shore. He flies from one ayakashi to another, bouncing and dancing, almost as if he was enjoying his job, raising and swinging his sword like an extension of his arm.

When the last ayakashi is killed, he swiftly lands on his feet and smiles, satisfied. He hums to himself and holds his sword in front of him.

"Revert, Sakumu."

The sword glows in a white light, then transforms into a young man who looks on the verge of fainting.

"Are you alright, Ryouta-sama?" he asks, worry in his voice. "You kept killing ayakashi on ayakashi for the past hours! I'm sorry I can't cut them faster!"

Ryouta passes a hand through his blond locks, and chuckles.

"You're always apologizing Sakumu!"

"I-I'm sorry!"

"It's fine, really. Today I just want to get the job done as fast as possible. You know, Kazunaricchi is always sending me on those!"

"Still, this isn't good for your health to spend hours fighting..."

"Aw you worry too much, you've been my shinki for years, you should know I can handle more than that. And you've been working hard too, so I'm sorry for that."

Ryouta's lips tug upwards in a reassuring smile, but Sakumu doesn't seem to buy it—though he doesn't try to pry further, and only drops his head. Ryouta looks at the darkening sky, seeing the hues of red and orange growing more menacing with each passing second, and decides that this indicates the end of his day. He motions for Sakumu to follow him, but from the corner of his eyes he sees a light. Something too bright. Tilting his head in curiosity, he heads towards it, towards a tree in a park, where he senses a warm aura and nothing evil. When he gets closer to it, he softly smiles and cups the vibrant rainbow orb between his hands.

"The poor soul, it must have suffered a lot," he says, gently.

Behind him, Sakumu fidgets, eyeing their surroundings and looking hesitant.

"Ryouta-sama, this isn't safe for that soul to wander at night," he mumbles. But this isn't the only reason why he feels so afraid.

"I know, Sakumu," Ryouta replies. "And this one seems particularly tough. It's going to be a great asset."

Ryouta releases the ball of light, takes a step back, and with his forefinger and middle finger he points at it.

"You, who have nowhere to go and can not pass on, I will give you a place to stay. My name is Ryouta."

The tip of his fingers glows, and he begins to trace a kanji in the air.

"I make thou my servant, obey my orders and become my shinki. Thy name is Niji. Thy vessel is Kou."

The kanji is fully drawn and goes straight onto the orb, merging with it, and Ryouta lifts his fingers towards the sky.

"Come, Kouki!"

As soon as the name slips out of his lips, the orb flies to his hand and shifts into a weapon. The white glow takes the shape of a naginata, long and sharp, a black cloth wrapped around the haft just below the blade. Ryouta swings it to test it out, and nods to himself. This is perfect.

"Well, seems like I acquired a brand-new shinki," he laughs, although his smile wobbles and his eyes sting. "Revert, Nijimu."

The naginata, much like Sakumu's sword form before, glows and transforms into a young man; he doesn't seem that older than Sakumu, but he has a firm jaw and eyes that seem ready to take on world. He's almost the same height as Ryouta, which makes the god beam with joy.

"Hello, Nijimu! I'm the god Ryouta, and you're now my shinki. Nice to meet you!"

Nijimu blinks, looking from Ryouta's smiling face to Sakumu's scared one, frowning and trying to process what happened to him. However he doesn't have the chance to ponder further on the situation since Ryouta grabs his arm to draw his attention.

"I'll explain everything later, for now we need to go. You wouldn't want to get eaten by ayakashi, now, would you?"

Nijimu looks at the sky, and he squints at the black dots that scatter on the orange hues. Sakumu stands by his side and offers a tiny smile, patting awkwardly his back.

"It's alright, Ryouta-sama is a nice guy," he says. "I'm Sakumu. Let's try to work together! Ah, I'm sorry if I sound too forward!"

Nijimu tilts his head, something in him _aching_ , as if he should extend his arm to rest his hand on this boy's—man?—head, as if he was longing for a warm and bright smile. He swallows and only nods, his lips forming a thin curve and his eyes sparkling with an unknown fondness.

"No problem, that's very kind of you," he replies.

Ryouta releases Nijimu's arm and walks ahead, calling out to his shinki to hurry up. He hears their feet shuffling and catching up to him, but all he can focus on is the pain in his chest and the shuddering breath he tries to even out.

Well, shit.

* * *

桜夢 'Sakumu' - Sakurai. The kanji 桜 can be read as 'ou', which makes his weapon name 'Ouki' 桜器.  
虹夢 'Nijimu' - Nijimura. The kanji 虹 can be read as 'kou', which makes his weapon name 'Kouki' 虹器.  
The kanji 夢 means 'dream'.

I used the first kanji of each characters' names to be as less confusing as possible.

I hope you liked this very short beginning!


	2. God of War

Hey! Thank you so much for all these reviews, I really wasn't expecting so much feedback!

The chapters in this fic are all probably going to be between 1k and 2k words, to make me write and publish faster.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 2:** God of War

Ryouta does have a shrine, really, but it's small and not comfy and dark—he doesn't want to welcome his new shinki in such a place. It's important to make a good first impression, after all, right? His new shinki needs to settle in the best way possible.

But Ryouta rubs his neck, tries to shake off the uneasiness and the prickling—to no avail. He sighs and turns to his shinki, putting on a grin.

"We'll stop at a sacred place tonight," he says. "It's safer this way, ayakashi won't attack us."

They've been walking for fifteen minutes and all the while Nijimu has been silent, looking all around him as if he was discovering the world for the first time. Sakumu didn't try to engage a conversation either, so maybe all this discomfort also comes from this silence that seems nerve-wracking for the shinki. Ryouta shakes his head and stops in front of a small temple, barely big enough to fit ten people in it, but there is holy water in the basin at the entrance and the place is protected—this is enough. He sits on the stairs in front of the temple's doors.

"Here we are!" he announces. "So, Nijimu, what do you know so far?"

Sakumu settles on a lower march than Ryouta on the right, so Nijimu does the same on the left. He scratches his cheek.

"Well, I assume I'm dead," he says.

Ryouta nods. "That's right. Some people don't realize it when they become shinki. That saves me the pain of breaking the news to you."

Nijimura smiles at that, despite the fact that the thought of being dead disturbs him a little. He feels quite alive, after all, walking, thinking and talking.

"Do I get clothes though?" he points to his white kimono. "I hardly see myself walking in town dressed like that."

"Of course, of course!" Ryouta chuckles. "We'll go shopping tomorrow."

Nijimu kind of wonders where they buy their clothes, though, because while Sakumu wears simple jeans with a white shirt and a dark blue sweater and sneakers, Ryouta looks like a model from a fashion magazine—yellow shirt with a thin black jacket, beige pants hugging just enough his legs, and black shoes. Nijimu would have never thought that gods dressed this way.

Ryouta rubs once again his neck, the anxiety not going away and he slightly frowns—he can't let the tension build up like that, especially when he needs to train a new shinki. He rolls his shoulders.

"Well, I know you've never been a shinki before, so I'll explain some things," he says, lifting one finger. "First, you have to obey me when I call you as my weapon. Second, you must get along with Sakumu. Third, be happy!"

Nijimu blinks. Sakumu covers his face with his hand. Ryouta gives them a big smile.

"Yup. I don't ask much of you, right?"

"I admit that it wasn't what I expected," Nijimu replies.

"Now that we introduced ourselves, let's go to sleep! I'm beat."

Nijimu looks confused and Sakumu's eyebrows draw in, but before either one can react, Ryouta enters the temple and slams the doors behind in a sound that is giving a final point to the conversation. Sakumu sighs and smiles apologetically at Nijimu.

"Sorry about that, he's been... weird today," he explains.

Nijimu watches his partner's face twist in a worried but resigned expression. He doesn't know the meaning of it, although he guesses Sakumu will take care of whatever issue there is with their god since it seems to have occurred before. He shrugs, getting up and stretching.

"No problem, I hope he'll get better. Are you going to see him?"

"No, he needs some time alone when he's like this...," Sakumu state. "I'm sorry I can't say anything!"

"Woah don't apologize so much, I understand!"

Sakumu is bowing and fumbling with his words and is making Nijimu out of place, making the atmosphere even worse and unsettling. The whole thing shouldn't be so embarrassing—but something tugs at the new shinki's heart and urges him to do something. So he extends his arm and awkwardly pats Sakumu's head, looking a bit away and maybe a little unsure.

"Calm down, okay? You don't have to explain everything."

Sakumu looks up, sees the slight flush on Nijimu's face, and he is hit with the realization that he might have found an older brother in this person that doesn't look that much older than him.

* * *

Ryouta leans over the basin, releases slow breathes, gripping firmly the edge of the structure in stone. He takes his time adjusting his respiration, in and out, in and out, and grabs the towel he put right beside him. He plunges it into the holy water, wrung it, and slaps it on his neck. The cold sensation sends him shivers and he slightly grimaces, but he can already tell it soothed his muscles and his neck doesn't hurt that much anymore. The prickling ceases and the uneasiness goes away—he is relieved to be in top shape again. Well, _almost_ in top shape, but at least nobody will notice.

He cleans the blight twice before going back to sleep.

* * *

"I told you he would sleep there!"

"Of course he'd sleep here, he's playing the homeless guy."

"That's right, yeah!"

Ryouta's eyes twitch. He vaguely registers what is said and he knows these voices—one always cheerful, the other always grumpy. He feels safe with them, like in a cocoon protected by thick walls. Slowly his eyelids flutter open and he is immediately assaulted by bright light and a grin just as dazzling. He squints.

"What?" he croaks out.

"What, 'what'?" the dark-haired boy chuckles. "Shin-chan isn't very happy, you know!"

The young looking man is crouching right beside Ryouta's head, his chin in his palm and head mildly tilted to the side, still grinning like a real child. The other person accompanying him is wearing a stern look, arms crossed and looking around the little temple. Ryouta sighs and sits up, rubbing his eyes.

"What time is it?"

"A little past eleven, actually," the boy answers, and Ryouta pouts—he didn't expect sleeping so much.

"Shintarocchi won't be mad if I say that I found a new shinki. You have to see him, Kazunaricchi!"

Genuinely surprised and taken aback like he just got run over, Kazunari stares at his friend, gaping. Ryouta smiles sheepishly at him.

"Kasabu, our Ryou-chan is growing up," Kazunari gasps.

"It's true that this is unusual," Kasabu adds, one eyebrow raised.

Before they can bomb Ryouta with questions, Sakumu enters the temple, bringing in nikuman and bottles of tea. Nijimu is following close behind, and Kazunari springs to his feet to meet him.

"Sakumu didn't even tell me you were the new shinki of Ryou-chan!" he exclaims with glee. "Woah, you look great! What's your name?"

"Uh, Nijimu."

"Oh, 'Niji' as your name? That's... interesting."

Kazunari quickly cast Kasabu a side glance that went unnoticed by the others. However a second later, as if nothing happened, he reports his attention back to Ryouta, who got up and stretched.

"What kind of weapon is he?"

"He's a naginata, I've never had one before!" Ryouta chirps.

"That's convenient, Kasabu will train him," Kazunari says. "Lance against naginata, though! It sounds fun."

"You know I don't like sparring with a new shinki!"

"Well, I wasn't saying anything about now."

Ryouta smiles and stands next to Sakumu, thanking him for buying breakfast—how the sword knew his god would wake up so late, that was the question. Kazunari watches the pair interacting with a sharp eye, not missing the way Sakumu seems a bit uncomfortable, with his squirming and squeaking—somehow it was more noticeable than usual, thus more pronounced. Kasabu decides to talk to Nijimu instead, leaving god matters to gods. He extends his hand, which Nijimu takes with a firm shake.

"Kasabu, I'm the god Kazunari's shinki. He's a god of war, and I'm a lance. Welcome among us."

"Thanks, I'm Nijimu... and a naginata," Nijimu replies with a frown.

"Yeah, it takes some time to get used to introducing ourselves like that," Kasabu laughs.

Nijimu nods, feeling right away that Kasabu is someone responsible and reliable—these hard eyes and proud stance can't deny it. He can't help but staring at the mark on Kasabu's right forearm, near the elbow, where a red 'Kasa' kanji is written. It looks like everyone is marked in different places—Nijimu's is on his left collarbone. He quietly wonders if the place has any meaning for each shinki.

Kasabu gives him a slap in the back with such strength that Nijimu almost doubles over, leaning forward and letting out a small cry.

"Don't worry about anything, Ryouta-sama is a good person," Kasabu reassures. "He looks like a fool and does act like one, but you're in good hands."

"Sakumu keeps telling me this as well, is he some sort of god of fortune or something?" Nijimu mumbles.

Kasabu's lips tug slightly upward in a knowing smile.

"He's a god of war."

* * *

Yay for the god of war Takao! The shinki I showed you is Kasamatsu. Takao has other shinki, but for now I just introduced Kasamatsu.  
笠武 'Kasabu', the kanji 武 means 'bravery'. 笠器 'Kasaki' is his weapon name.


	3. Spirit

Ahh so sorry it took so long to update! I wanted to write more of this fic during Nano but... I made the mistake of boarding a new fandom. ;w; I hope you'll like this chapter all the same!

 **NA:** Thanks for your review! Yeah the second season is great, even though there are tiny details that bother me haha. I read the scans so I know what happens next, but watching the episodes is still thrilling!

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 3:** Spirit

"God of war. Alright."

Kasabu grins.

"Yeah, he doesn't look like it, huh?"

"That's an understatement."

"Well, considering Kazunari is also a god of war..."

Nijimura stares. Okay, that makes two cheerful guys who are possibly able to destroy everything in sight. Kasabu shrugs.

"You'll understand one day."

Nijimu still can't believe that Ryouta is someone who fights as his main activity, though he doesn't have any particular opinion on him. The god just doesn't give any vibe that could lead to such an assumption—yes, they've interacted for twenty whole minutes but who would suspect a smile so bright? Nijimu eyes Ryouta and Kazunari talking with animation.

"I killed more ayakashi than you that time!"

"No way, I did! Miyabu totally overpowered Sakumu!"

"Miyabu is cheating, he's a freaking broadsword!"

"Just admit that Miyabu is stronger!"

"Well, Sakumu is faster! And if I had—"

Ryouta snaps his mouth shut. Kazunari blinks and pauses for a second, then shifts; Sakumu squeaks and Kasabu sighs. Nijimu raises an eyebrow and looks with confusion at Ryouta, who rubs his neck before taking a sip from his bottle of tea, the soft noise of his gulping breaking the still silence. He smiles.

"Alright, Shintarocchi is probably angry again, I should visit him," he says with mirth. "He'd want me to pay a fee."

"Given the fact you sleep more often at his shrines than at yours, he would," Kazunari chuckles as if nothing happened. "Sat-chan taught him this."

Ryouta grins and tosses the bottle into the trash can. He passes his hands in his hair to somewhat comb them, and pats his clothes, asking everyone to gather around him. Nijimu complies as he stands now next to Sakumu who gives him a reassuring smile—but the edges are a bit stiff and he notices that Kazunari quickly clasped Ryouta's shoulder before going beside his shinki on the other side of the circle.

Ryouta snaps his fingers and all of a sudden a white glow envelops them. The next thing Nijimu knows, they land in front of a huge temple with a giant frog statue in the middle of a courtyard. His mouth is hanging slightly open.

"Too much weird things happen all at once," he grumbles.

His god chuckles. "Sorry, you must be too lost in our little issues to properly settle. I promise you we're going shopping just after that!"

"With what money?"

A man dressed in black traditional robes goes down the stairs of the temple and literally stomps towards them, teeth gritted. Ryouta, who was grinning at Nijimura, immediately looks sheepish. He turns around and spreads his arms with a smile.

"Hello Shintarocchi! How have you been? Your shrines are always very warm and safe!"

"Ryouta, give me one reason why I should continue allowing you making yourself comfortable in my property," Shintarou grunts.

"Because you loove me!"

Shintarou's eyebrow twitches and his eyes seem about to shoot lasers while his hands could very well fly to Ryouta's throat to strangle him. Kazunari decides to step in before an actual bloodbath happens—cleaning up will just be a pain.

"He gets money from me by doing some jobs!"

Shintarou eyes him skeptically.

"Are you saying you give him the jobs _you_ should be doing?"

"The job's done, so what's the problem?" Kazunari grins. "Ryouta likes fast works, anyway. I keep the big ones."

Nijimu, along with the other shinki, stays in the back and nudges Sakumu in the ribs to get updated on the situation.

"Who is he?" he asks, pointing at Shintarou.

"This is Shintarou god, deity of studies," Sakumu supplies.

"Oh, the one we pray to when we've got an exam? Funny, I imagined him old and wrinkled."

Sakmu quietly laughs. Himself had a similar first impression of Tenjin—Shintarou's title—, but over the years he got used to Shintarou and his weird habits; the god checks digilently every single wish each day and carries around an old frog-shaped ashtray that is supposed to bring luck—his explanation is that it will enable him to grant wishes better. Ryouta finds it endearing and Kazunari outright laughs at his face.

Nijimu, so far, thinks that he's been lied to all his life—well, when he was alive. Nobody told him that gods aren't physically as they are described in books and legends, that they can bicker like children, or can be such good... friends? The three gods seem on familiar terms well enough. But the strangest thing is probably the fact that dead people become their weapons—this one wasn't a lie, when they say that once dead, they will go to Heaven.

He watches Ryouta pulling a face while giving Shintarou a few coins, and judging by the god of studies' deadpan expression, that must have been a small amount of money.

"So mean, you're turning into Satsucchi," Ryouta mumbles.

"This is just once," Shintarou clarifies. "I expect you to sleep in your own shrine or to go to Kazunari's. I don't want any damage inflicted upon my shrines."

"So dramatic," Kazunari comments.

"It happened once! Maybe twice," Ryouta precises.

Shintarou sighs and shifts his gaze to look at Nijimu, ignoring the wailing of the blond. The shinki raises an eyebrow at the sudden attention.

"Is he your new shinki?" Shintarou asks Ryouta.

"Yes! That's why I slept in somewhere nice," Ryouta whines. "Isn't he great?"

Shintarou pushes his glasses up and steps closer to Nijimu. He examines his face and seems to be looking for something specific—his eyes are hard, he's intensely focused and keeps a straight face. But after a few seconds his shoulders relax and he simply nods.

"What is your name?"

That conversation feels familiar.

"Nijimu," the shinki answers.

And then he notices the puzzled look on Shintarou's face, even though it's very faint and quick. There is just this slight recognition in these green orbs and Nijimu frowns. Kazunari also looked odd when he heard his name.

"Is something wrong?"

Shintarou shakes his head, and regains composure at once, straightening his back.

"No, I'm sorry. Ryouta, I have something to tell you. Kazunari, you can come too."

The other two gods look at each other, perplexed, but follow Shintarou all the same inside the huge temple. The shinki are once again abandoned by their masters and Kasabu rolls his eyes. Sakumu shrugs.

"I guess it's really important matters if they have to speak in private," the sword says.

"Yeah, well, it's not as if they've never kept a secret from us," Kasabu points out.

"Gods don't keep secrets?" Nijimu inquires with surprise. It seems rather strange since they have to protect people and the balance of the world—some things must be classified as 'gods matters', right?

"They do have secrets, I think," Sakumu replies. "About their personal lives, maybe. But when it comes to their duty, they speak to us."

"It hasn't always been like that, though," Kasabu adds. "Maybe since a few centuries ago? I don't really remember."

Shinki live for centuries, Nijimur realizes with shock. They literally became immortal to serve gods.

The more he learns about his new life and the people around him, the more confused he gets because they are all so weird and mystic and cryptic. 'Hasn't always been like that'? Did something happen? Has a law been passd between gods? Did the shinki demand not to be kept in the dark? Nijimu frowns but doesn't puch the subject—his two companions don't seem too keen on talking about it.

"So... what do we do?"

"Talk?" Kasabu shrugs. "Don't you have questions? It must be pretty weird to discover all this in one day. I didn't have all the information shoved at me on my first day."

"It's a bit overwhelming but I'm doing all right," Nijimu reassures. "I mean, all my beliefs have been broken in less than twenty-four hours but it's okay."

Nijimu grins and Kasabu chuckles. The transition between life and death brings much more light to the reality of the world's organization, and maybe Nijimu kind of understands better all the stories between some gods—the three he's met are very much like humans, after all, so they probably act like ones and make mistakes or something like that.

"Can we die again, in this... form?" he asks, still intrigued by the possibility of being centuries old.

Sakumu squirms (which Nijimu has noted as a quirk) and Kasabu scratches his head.

"Yeah, we can," the lance mutters. "If you get eaten by ayakashi, you die."

Ryouta mentioned stuff about ayakashi, but Nijimu still doesn't know what they are, exactly, but if he can be eaten by them, then they're creatures that must be avoided at all costs.

"Ayakashi are phantoms, or spirits, if you prefer," Kasabu continues. "They live in the Far Shore, which is the realm of stuff that humans can't see. If you put it simply it's the realm where the supernatural things happen. They're balls of negative feelings and take trips to the Near Shore, the humans' world, and corrupt them. They persuade them to do bad stuff. Gods can kill them and restore the balance, but ayakashi are sort of toxic. If you get in contact with them for too long, you're being corrupted as well and you can die. We're former humans, after all."

Is humanity the main drive of everything? Gods act like humans, shinki are former humans, ayakashi corrupt humans, and they have to stop them to protect humans who can't even see them. Nijimu nods, grimacing a bit at the thought of being devoured by something, but he supposes this won't happen as long as he's careful. Sakumu and Kasabu don't look too worried, so there's no need for him to be, right?

"Of course, you can die if you sustain severe injuries," Kasabu sighs. "If you get into a fight with another shinki, for example, you can die by blood loss and all."

"So there are two ways of dying? The normal one and the devouring one? Nice," Nijimu comments dryly.

Kasabu pauses, narrows his eyes a bit, but he changes his face back into a casual one right after.

"Yeah. Two ways of dying."

Sakumu sadly smiles, but Nijimu doesn't notice.


End file.
